Darkness' Claim
by Umbrae Calamitas
Summary: Yugi's point-of-view near the end of the battle with Pegasus. Companion piece to "The Loss of Light"


**Author's Note: **Howdy, dudes! Heh. So, I'm watching YuGiOh! episodes on youtube - wonderful, wonderful youtube. So, in honor of my returning love of YuGiOh!, here is a one-shot from Yugi's POV of the near-end battle with Pegasus (second part of episode 38). One of my favorite parts, ever. I also intend to do one from Yami's POV, but for now, here is _Darkness' Claim_. Enjoy, please remember to review, and as always,

_Live long. Live well. Write. _

**Darkness' Claim**

It was heavy.

The world around him was pressing in on him like walls on all four sides, closing in around him like a shrinking box. Breathing was difficult and he could feel his limbs shaking. He didn't have much strength left, he knew, but he had to… he had to play…

His fingers touched the top of his deck, his vision blurring so that he couldn't focus directly upon his hand. His felt a weakness overcome him, but he fought it off, and his vision returned.

_I have to have faith in the Heart of the Cards, _he assured himself. If he had faith, his deck would come through for him. It always had.

_Please… please… _He needed a card that could defeat Pegasus. That was the only way he could save his grandfather and the others.

Shivering, he drew a card and turned it to face him. It might work… no, it _would_ work.

"Pegasus, I play one card… face down," he informed his opponent. "And for my last move, I throw Feral Imp in defense mode."

The green impish creature appeared before him on the field, crouched down defensively as it faced Pegasus' side of the field.

Yugi spared himself a soft sigh. There – he couldn't do much to help the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, but hopefully that will have been enough. Thanks to their Mind Shuffle technique, there was at least one card on the field that Pegasus didn't know the identity of.

_Of course, the spirit doesn't know what it is, either, _a little voice nagged at him in the back of his mind.

Yugi mentally shook his head. No, that's the way it worked, and it would be all right. The two of them… they were a team. They had come this far together. It would work out in the end; it had to.

Pegasus seemed to be in thought, and Yugi watched him, waiting. Would his opponent try to read his mind? He would have to-

"Relinquished, prepare to attack," Pegasus commanded, his voice interrupting Yugi's thoughts. Yugi looked up, feeling sorrow inside of him at seeing his Dark Magician imprisoned by his opponent's monster. His favorite card – his favorite partner on the field – was being used against him.

Somehow, in hurt him in a physical way.

"Use the Dark Magician's power. Billford Power Attack – destroy the Feral Imp."

"My Feral Imp!" Yugi cried, but then Relinquished blast hit his creature, and Yugi felt as though the blow had struck him, instead. He shielded his face with a hand, crying out at the pain that struck him deep inside… somehow. How was it possible that he burned _beneath_ his skin?

"_Yugi, switch now!" _

Yugi felt a hand on his shoulder. He could feel the spirit's presence rising from the puzzle, arms curled around him in an attempt to draw him into the safety of the puzzle and protect him from harm.

"_Quickly!" _the spirit cried.

But, Yugi realized, he didn't have the strength to switch. The burning sensation beneath his skin had gone and suddenly, there was nothing there at all…

Darkness seemed to curl around his vision. Yugi felt his knees go weak and the world around him shimmer, as though it wasn't truly there.

Darkness slipped in, rushing beneath his skin and latching onto his heart and mind, and then digging deeply into his very soul.

Yugi felt his eyes slip closed, just before he felt the world around him tilt, and then begin to fade.

"_Yugi!" _the spirit cried. _"Yugi!"_

His voice was barely audible, even through the link of their minds.

"_Spirit…" _Yugi whispered, knowing that this was it… this was the end. _"You've got… to beat… Pegasus…" _Save his grandfather, and Kaiba and Mokuba. Even if this was the end, at least… at least…

Darkness.


End file.
